Inspired Inquiry

SPARK: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and The Brain

2010-05-02T07:10:00.000-07:00

This book launches with an amazing case study (Naperville Central High School near Chicago) where key players have significantly improved learning through systematic and strategic exercise that was appropriate for the learner. My first question is why are PE, recess and other physical exercise being reduced or dropped in so many schools? Why aren’t more schools looking at innovative ways to implement this approach or one based on the same principles?

Surprisingly, this book isn’t simply about learning in schools, but learning in general and the key exercise can play. The author, John Ratey, MD, who also wrote Driven to Distraction, explores how exercise can help everyone with learning (plus optimal emotional and physical health) by diminishing stress, anxiety, depression, attention deficit, addiction, hormonal changes, and impacts of aging. Of course, this isn’t the first book on the importance of exercise in all these areas, but the power of this book is the constant reference to brain research. Prior to the past five to ten years, there were strong correlations between exercise and diminished effects of stress, anxiety, etc. But we now have solid evidence that proves exactly how much exercise, to what level of intensity, and in which situations. Ratey is a clinical associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, but also runs his own private practice. Therefore, not only does Ratey reference recent, remarkable research, but he embeds it in a human context.

Given the story of how a “fitness program helped one U.S. school district out of 19,000 rank first in the TIMMS science test, and given brain research evidence that s incontrovertible: “aerobic exercise physically transforms our brains for peak performance,” will we take the steps to give students this added benefit? Also. will we make it feasible and attractive for teachers to exercise as well?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rosswebsdale/2442167618/

Learning from the Extremes

2010-05-02T06:50:00.000-07:00

This White Paper, published by Cisco, is a report that outlines four basic strategies governments (and motivated individuals and groups) in the developing and developed world can pursue to meet learning challenges: improve, reinvent, supplement, and transform schools and learning.

Here is the visual that so perfectly captures their framework:

However, Cisco doesn’t just stop there, they analyze specific examples in both the developed and developing world. Not only is this paper a fascinating read, but more importantly, it gives hope of possibilities for truly transformative innovations in the area of learning.

I believe International Schools do fairly well in “improving schools (through better facilities, teachers, and leadership”) and “supplementing schools by working with families and communities.” (Of course given the clientele and resources, this is not a great challenge.) However, these same “highly successful schools” seem completely paralyzed in moving forward with reinventing their schools to better meet the learning needs and desires of today and tomorrow. At least in that arena, there are rumblings if not action. In the final quadrant, “transforming learning by making it available in radically new ways” is not on the radar screen. Imagine if we were able to re-conceptualize the concept of the “virtual school” for our kids so that it wasn’t viewed as just an extra load of homework, but explore “radical new ways” for students to learn.

As the conclusion of the paper states, “The 20th century was the century of the teacher and the school, the class and the exam. The 21st needs to become the century of the educational entrepreneur and of the pupil as protagonist, self-motivated and self-organized learning, at scale, wherever and whenever it is needed.”

When and where will international schools work towards disruptive innovation in learning to meet the needs of our students? Will you and I become the needed social entrepreneurs in this area or are we too main-stream and embedded?

http://www.dailygalaxy.com/photos/uncategorized/shutterstock_2403515.jpg

DRIVE: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us

2010-05-02T05:27:00.000-07:00

For those who loved A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink, you will definitely want to get your hands on DRIVE. Or if you enjoyed Alfie Kohn’s Punished By Rewards back in the 1990’s, you’ll love this! I’m only a couple of chapters into it and already highly recommend it. Here are Pink’s Twitter and cocktail summaries:

"TWITTER: Carrots & sticks are so last century. Drive says for 21st century work, we need to upgrade to autonomy, mastery & purpose.

COCKTAIL PARTY: When it comes to motivation, there’s a gap between what science knows and what business does. Our current business operating system—which is built around external, carrot-and-stick motivators—doesn’t work and often does harm. We need an upgrade. And the science shows the way. This new approach has three essential elements: (1) Autonomy—the desire to direct our own lives; (2) Mastery—the urge to get better and better at something that matters; and (3) Purpose—the yearning to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves."

Like, Kohn, Pink debunks the motivation myths grounded in behaviorialism that we still find prevalent not only in business, but throughout the world of education. There are places that have shifted to more of a “pull” approach” rather than a push, but these are few and far between. So, the question is . . . how long until this becomes the way we facilitate learning? What’s holding us back? How can we capitalize on the powerful pockets already there?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/peterjon/344323226/

What's the Big Idea: Teaching and Learning for Transfer

2010-05-02T05:14:00.000-07:00

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrpixure/3203850255/

“We teach it because they said we had to” is one of my professional pet peeves. It is my stance that, as professionals, unless we have clarity about the WHY of our learning goals, we should not be spending any time on them.

Many people know about Understanding by Design and/or Teaching for Understanding of Project Zero. Neither of these is a “program” or “template” but rather a paradigm for thinking and planning for learning that is focused on key principles of learning. Two key learning principles speak directly to this issue of being clear about the WHY of your learning goals:
1. Learning is purposeful and contextual. Therefore, students should be helped to see the purpose in what they are asked to learn. Learning should be framed by relevant questions, meaningful challenges, and authentic applications.
2. Experts organize or chunk their knowledge around transferable core concepts (“big ideas”) that guide their thinking about the domain and help them integrate new knowledge. Therefore, content instruction should be framed in terms of core ideas and transferrable processes, not as discrete facts and skills.
Copyright 2010 Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins

Ultimately if we’re not clear about the purpose or relevancy of our learning goals, we obviously can’t contextualize the learning for students. Also, if we are the facilitators responsible to guide students’ building of understanding, isn’t it therefore our responsibility to frame this learning around the key understandings (with related skills and knowledge) and clearly communicate the relevance of this learning?

Or better yet, might we be framing the big ideas, skills, and knowledge based on students’ questions and desires to explore?

Sustainability, Final Project Planning

2010-02-27T05:36:00.000-08:00

Taking Action by creating a Public Service Announcement

As stated in the previous blog, the Grade 5 at ISB took some risks this year by attempting an integrated (social studies, language arts, and science) unit on Sustainability. Not only does this meet our school's mission of developing Global Citizens, but it also incorporates a fair amount of the TAIL standards:

Recognize bias in digital resources while researching an environmental issue with guidance from the teacher. (TAILs: 1, 2)
Explore causes, consequences, and possible solutions to persistent, contemporary, and emerging global issues, such as pollution and endangered species. (I.f)
Recognize and interpret how the "common good" can be strengthened through various forms of citizen action (A.j)
Identify, collaborate, and investigate a global issue and generate possible solutions using digital tools and resources. (TAILs: 1, 2, 4, 5)

We framed this final "take action" phase of the unit with this essential question: As global citizens, how can we contribute to a sustainable future?

Through this third phase of the unit, we were hoping that students would develop the understanding that Global Citizens . . .

understand that sustainability is meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.
keep informed about current sustainability issues
examine sustainability issues, in depth, in which they’re interested
learn how to deal with sustainability issues, which do or can affect them
consider probable and preferable futures and human potential to affect change
plan and take action towards a sustainable future

We then developed the following GRASPS Task:
Goal: Help your family reduce its ecological imprint. (We've been exploring the concept of an environmental footprint and uncovering the reality that currently humans consume more resources than the earth can replensh and therefore we are not functioning in a sustainable manner. Students engaged in an online "footprint" analysis and then came up with ways they were willing and able to diminish their footprint)
Role: You are a global citizen concerned about the impact your family is having on the sustainability of the environment.
Audience: Your family and any other interested global citizens around the world
Situation: You need to analyze one aspect of your family’s environmental footprint, research why there is such an impact and propose innovative ways to diminish that impact in order to create a preferable future.
Product, Performance, Purpose: * You will make a compelling Public Service Announcement to include the following:
1st min (max) = communicate what the problem is
2nd min (max) = communicate why this is a problem and its impact on the sustainability of the planet?
3rd min (max) = what are we going to do about it, solution to the problem

http://treadlightly.tigweb.org/challenge.html

Thanks to our to our Tech leader, Chrissy, here is our proposed tentative timeline:
1 session: Explore iMovie (Great idea from Jeff Utecht)
1 session: Introduce and analyze PSA using “Digital Bridges”
1-2 sessions: immersion in PSAs and analysis of several (Problem, cause/effect, solution + use of audio, visual, and text in delivering the message)
2-4 sessions to Plan (brainstorm, research, + storyboard phase)
• Use a storyboard to plan out your PSA • Write a script based on the research • Find pictures, talk about research, citing sourcing, how to save and organize images Use: Compfight or Search:Creative Commons (both search flickr) • Find creative commons music for the video (no copyright probs) Use: http://jamendo.com
2 sessions: Create the PSA
1 sessionL Peer Review
1 session: Reflect

Evidence of Learning:

Rubric: (generic digital storytelling rubric currently being tailored to suit this project, which includes the content pieces)
Class Reflection: what could have been improved and to what degree we might be impacting future environmental sustainability
Self-Assessment Rubric (generic digital storytelling self-assessment rubric currently being tailored to suit this project)
Sharing: Students upload their PSA to their blog
Individual reflection: write blog post reflecting on their personal experience with the project

The next four blogs will be reflections on the various stages of turning this plan into reality.

Plan for Sem II Project

2009-12-11T16:43:00.000-08:00

I have the great fortune of working with the Grade 5 team in creating an interdisciplinary unit, Sustainability, that weaves together outcomes of Science, Social Studies, Language Arts, and TAIL. We've outlined just the Global/Digital citizen piece of the project here.

Stay tuned as we update how this project progresses over the next three months.

NETs for Teachers

2009-12-09T23:48:00.000-08:00

Continuing from the previous blog, let's look more closely at the NETs for Teachers:

1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity. Teachers use their knowledge of subject matter, teaching and learning, and technology to facilitate experiences that advance student learning, creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face and virtual environments. Teachers:
a. promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness
b. engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources
c. promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes
d. model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual environments

To me, this is all linked to one's philosophy. Do you value developing innovative thinking in children? Do you believe in real-world application and problem solving? Do you believe that children construct their understanding and that revealing misconceptions and level of understanding is all part of the process in learning? To make this a reality, our learning leaders need to buy in to this philosophical stance.

2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments
Teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessments incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the NETS•S.
Teachers:
a. design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity
b. develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress
c. customize and personalize learning activities to address students’ diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources
d. provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments aligned with content and technology standards and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching

Again, this is the general work of learning facilitators--designing learning experiences and assessments, using the best available and most engaging tools that meet given learners' needs (only figured out through authentic on-going assessment). Once again we see philosophical tenets such as valuing diverse learning styles and allowing students to personalize and show their learning in varied formats. What if teachers don't philosophically believe in this?

3. Model Digital-Age Work and Learning
Teachers exhibit knowledge, skills, and work processes representative of an innovative professional in a global and digital society.

Couldn't one exhibit these skills and knowledge and yet not necessarily improve student learning? Obviously one needs this content base but this standard doesn't seem learning-centered.

Teachers:
a. demonstrate fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge to new technologies and situations
b. collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation
c. communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital-age media and formats
d. model and facilitate effective use of current and emerging digital tools to locate, analyze, evaluate, and use information resources to support research and learning

So basically we need teachers to be life-long and effective collaborators, communicators, and learners? Doesn't that encompass all of this?

4. Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility
Teachers understand local and global societal issues and responsibilities in an evolving digital culture and exhibit legal and ethical behavior in their professional practices.
Teachers:
a. advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright,intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources
b. address the diverse needs of all learners by using learner-centered strategies and providing equitable access to appropriate digital tools and resources
c. promote and model digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information
d. develop and model cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with colleagues and students of other cultures using digital-age communication and collaboration tools

Much like what we saw with the NETs for Administrators, of course we need to model, promote and facilitate ethical and responsible use of digital resources--any resources for that matter.

5. Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership
Teachers continuously improve their professional practice, model lifelong learning, and exhibit leadership in their school and professional community by promoting and demonstrating the effective use of digital tools and resources.
Teachers:
a. participate in local and global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve student learning
b. exhibit leadership by demonstrating a vision of technology infusion, participating in shared decision making and community building, and developing the leadership and technology skills of others
c. evaluate and reflect on current research and professional practice on a regular basis to make effective use of existing and emerging digital tools and resources in support of student learning
d. contribute to the effectiveness, vitality, and self-renewal of the teaching profession and of their school and community

I like the part about being a life-long learner and global citizen as a model for students. However, many of the other details have more to do with teachers' lives outside of the learning realm and won't necessarily translate into improved student learning.

http://diskurs.hum.aau.dk/english/dexus3/images/collaboration.jpg

In conclusion, I feel these standards are not necessary. I believe we need to have philosophical agreements and support teachers in gaining the knowledge, skills, and understandings to become life-long learners, collaborators, and communicators. The facilitation for learners will then happen naturally. What do you think?

NETs for Administrators

2009-12-09T22:58:00.000-08:00

http://www.flickr.com/photos/edborhan/3470278490/

Given I don't have a classroom for which I manage tools and peripherals, I've decided to focus the final two blogs on the NETs standards for Administrators and Teachers. I'm currently neither an administrator nor a teacher, so I'm wondering which of these two most apply to my role? In order to reflect further I would like to take a look at the descriptors and question or comment on each one in relation to ISB or to learning institutions in general.

1. Visionary Leadership. Educational Administrators inspire and lead development and implementation of a shared vision for comprehensive integration of technology to promote excellence and support transformation throughout the organization.

What is our shared vision? Like other curricular areas, do we have a philosophy that one and all are aware of and that is driving everything we do in this area?
What do we mean by comprehensive and how are we measuring this? Do we have similar expectations for all areas or are there greater expectations for certain areas? If so, why? If not, does the reality reflect this?

Educational Administrators:
a. inspire and facilitate among all stakeholders a shared vision of purposeful change that maximizes use of digital-age resources to meet and exceed learning goals, support effective instructional practice, and maximize performance of district and school leaders

How do you measure inspiration? According to research, "inspirational" leaders are not necessarily the most effective in improving learning.
What are the most effect use of digital-age resources--has this been researched? If so, what are the results?

b. engage in an ongoing process to develop, implement, and communicate technology-infused strategic plans aligned with a shared vision

So, does this mean using technology to help reach ISB's vision? If so, is this the responsibility of all administrators or of those responsible for IT?

c. advocate on local, state, and national levels for policies, programs, and funding to support implementation of a technology-infused vision and strategic plan

not really applicable to our situation

2. Digital-Age Learning Culture. Educational Administrators create, promote, and sustain a dynamic, digital-age learning culture that provides a rigorous, relevant, and engaging education for all students.

I love the end of this statement, "rigorous, relevant, and engaging education for all students." However, what exactly does a "digital-age learning culture" look and feel like?

Educational Administrators:
a. ensure instructional innovation focused on continuous improvement of digital-age learning

First of all, does our culture value and promote innovation? Why or why not and what is our evidence?

b. model and promote the frequent and effective use of technology for learning

This is pretty straightforward and seems doable for one and all!!

c. provide learner-centered environments equipped with technology and learning resources to meet the individual, diverse needs of all learners

Isn't technology simply another type of learning resource?

d. ensure effective practice in the study of technology and its infusion across the curriculum

This looks like a justification to have the TAIL standards embedded in the curricular area benchmarks.

e. promote and participate in local, national, and global learning communities that stimulate innovation, creativity, and digital-age collaboration

This is more modeling but not necessarily directly linked to student learning.

3. Excellence in Professional Practice. Educational Administrators promote an environment of professional learning and innovation that empowers educators to enhance student learning through the infusion of contemporary technologies and digital resources.

I believe that ISB does this one quite well, allocating a huge budget to resources and professional learning support.

Educational Administrators:
a. allocate time, resources, and access to ensure ongoing professional growth in technology fluency and integration
b. facilitate and participate in learning communities that stimulate, nurture, and support administrators, faculty, and staff in the study and use of technology
c. promote and model effective communication and collaboration among stakeholders using digital-age tools
d. stay abreast of educational research and emerging trends regarding effective use of technology and encourage evaluation of new technologies for their potential to improve student learning

Is this true just for technology or once again is technology a resource and we should always be looking for new resources that have the potential to improve student learning?

4. Systemic Improvement. Educational Administrators provide digital-age leadership and management to continuously improve the organization through the effective use of information and technology resources.
Educational Administrators:
a. lead purposeful change to maximize the achievement of learning goals through the appropriate use of technology and media-rich resources

I believe ultimately learning leaders are responsible for leading change that maximizes learning and technology and media-rich resources are possible resources with which to do this.

b. collaborate to establish metrics, collect and analyze data, interpret results, and share findings to improve staff performance and student learning

I agree with this, except for staff performance. If our goal is improved student learning our data collection should be focused on that. Teachers should have some liberty about how they get there.

c. recruit and retain highly competent personnel who use technology creatively and proficiently to advance academic and operational goals
d. establish and leverage strategic partnerships to support systemic improvement
e. establish and maintain a robust infrastructure for technology including integrated, interoperable technology systems to support management, operations, teaching, and learning

The three above are very specific to certain administrative roles and are currently being done here at ISB.

5. Digital Citizenship. Educational Administrators model and facilitate understanding of social, ethical, and legal issues and responsibilities related to an evolving digital culture.

Educational Administrators:
a. ensure equitable access to appropriate digital tools and resources to meet the needs of all learners
b. promote, model, and establish policies for safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology
c. promote and model responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information
d. model and facilitate the development of a shared cultural understanding and involvement in global issues through the use of contemporary communication and collaboration tools

I feel strongly that all learning leaders and facilitators should be responsible for this promotion and modeling of ethical behavior in the digital world.

In conclusion, looking at this NETs for administrator just further confirms my thinking that there is no need for separate standards for different learning leaders. Our focus should be on the knowledge, skills, and understandings we want to students to learn and then take responsibility for doing what it takes to promote, model, and facilitate such learning.

Flat World or Vertical diVisions?

2009-12-07T00:17:00.000-08:00

How relevant are the NETs for Teachers and Administrators to being a "Good Educator" today?

Inevitably, we need all learning facilitators and learning leaders to be proficient and fluent in the skills of the area of learning that they are expected to facilitate for others. There are research findings in the content area of math, for example, that show that for student learning to happen the math teacher needs strong content knowledge, skills, and understanding. Therefore, we can assume that one needs to have the knowledge, skills, and understandings listed in the NETs in order to effectively guide learning in that area. Can we not assume this to be true for any type of learning?

http://www.yanswersblogth.com/b4/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/why.jpg

If we can agree on this premise, then I question WHY there are separate sets of NETs for Teachers and Administrators.

NETS for Teachers

1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity

2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments

3. Model Digital-Age Work and Learning

4. Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility

5. Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership

NETS for Administrators

1. Visionary Leadership

2. Digital Age Learning Culture

3. Excellence in Professional Practice

4. Systemic Improvement

5. Digital Citizenship

I find it interesting that we're advocating that we need to prepare kids for a "flat," collaborative world, but we continue to structure and propel hierarchical organizational models. If we believe that kids can be experts and teach others (including teachers), then why are administrators the only ones responsible for establishing a digital age culture? Isn't a culture determined by the sum of all the parts? "Excellence in Professional Practice": wouldn't this be expected of both groups? Wouldn't "Designing and Modeling Digital Age Learning and Citizenship" ideally be done by all? More importantly, when will we focus more on the learning we hope to have happen than the way learning leaders and learning facilitators help make that learning a reality?

http://blog.darrylepollack.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/flatworld.jpg

When will we begin to walk the talk of this collaborative flat world?

Assess, Analyze, and Act

2009-12-06T23:56:00.000-08:00

How can teachers and schools ensure that their students are learning what they need when it comes to Technology and Information Literacy?

As with any learning, teachers need to know the trajectory so they can always support their students' learning progress with their "Zone of Proximal Development." As stated in the previous blog, the skills, knowledge, and understandings of the Technology and Information Literacy Standards need to be first and foremost strategically embedded throughout the curriculum rather than ad hoc add-ons that are often the reality of our status quo.

However, as with any benchmarks, these are approximate developmental sign posts along the learning journey. The teacher's job is to systematically assess where students are in relationship to these outcomes, and determine how they can facilitate the appropriate skills development that will move them forward. This seems simple and straightforward but with students at all levels in all areas, this is an incredibly complex challenge.

ASSESS

Imagine having an on-going e-portfolio that demonstrates what students have already done, know and understand. This would save the current teacher loads of assessing time and would move all educators towards looking at a "body of evidence" rather than an assessment or two. What tools exist already that might facilitate teachers collecting and collating such evidence?

http://www.coronadopacific.com/images/assess.jpg

ANALYZE

A body of evidence (e-portfolio coupled with teacher anecdotal notes) is only worth the effort if we take the time to analyze where children are on their learning journey and decide on next steps.

http://actingschmacting.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/analyze.gif

ACT

Our plans are only as good as the student learning that results from these efforts. All three steps of Assess-Analyze-Act are challenging but undoubtedly facilitating appropriate learning in the moment that best meets each student's needs still remains the "art" of our profession.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/04/20/magazine/20act-600.jpg

E3: Embedded Everywhere by Everyone

2009-11-27T21:25:00.000-08:00

Whose job is it to teach the NETs and AASL standards to students?

This question is pretty simple for me, given that we’re currently functioning in a standards-based setting at ISB. I believe the related knowledge, skills and understandings of these standards should be embedded, everywhere, across all courses. Ideally, everyone, all teachers, would be involved. The AASL standards state that we’re developing students to . . .

1. Inquire, think critically, and gain knowledge.
2. Draw conclusions, make informed decisions, apply knowledge to new situations, and create new knowledge.
3. Share knowledge and participate ethically and productively as members of our democratic society.
4. Pursue personal and aesthetic growth.

Therefore, who could oppose embedding the learning targets of NETS/AASL where they naturally fit, working in concert the content-based learning outcomes already established in a given context?

However, my response is based on the following two assumptions:

Assumption #1: That these knowledge, skills, attitudes, and understandings are the underpinnings of "life-long learning literacies" and therefore should be embedded in all learning contexts. Ideally, it would be the way of “doing learning,” regardless of the curricular focus.

Assumption #2: That teachers actually philosophically agree with the underlying beliefs upon which these standards were built (i.e. wanting kids to think critically, create, be self-directed, etc.) Therefore, as with any set of standards, this one needs to be aligned with a school’s mission, vision, and definition of learning before the knowledge, skills, and understandings can be embedded and then actualized by teachers who believe in these foundational tenets.

Why not?

Ultimately, why can’t we have all learning standards embedded in authentic, interdisciplinary, relevant, collaborative and creative learning tasks? Why can’t students learn by doing and show their level of knowledge, skills, and understanding by what they are able to apply in coherent, engaging, and meaningful undertakings? Why can't we do away with the many walls and categories that break up the "whole" into seemingly endless "parts" (what David Perkins refers to as "elementitis" in his book, Making Learning Whole)? Doesn’t such an alternative approach have the potential to simultaneously reach the AASL vision above, the ISB vision, and the vision that we want all global citizens to become collaborative, self-directed, reflective, life-long learners? Just imagine . . .

We would no longer need grades--the learning evidence would be constantly evident and used to facilitate next steps.
We would automatically be meeting kids where they are and helping them learn in their zone of proximal development, maximizing learning time for everyone.
We would be engaging all learners and therefore democratizing participation in creating the future.
We would collaborate to solve real world problems in real time, accessing the knowledge as needed, developing the skills needed, and developing habits of mind that will last a lifetime.

This doesn't have to be a dream--it is already happening in many places around the world. (See examples in The Global Achievement Gap) Are we ready to be the risk-takers and inquirers necessary to make this a reality here and now?

Ultimately, why shouldn't we become life-long learning collaborators with our students to research and rehearse, prepare for and practice preferable futures?

Final Project Reflection

2009-11-01T01:41:00.000-07:00

It was nice to have the option between planning for or completing a product for our final project since I still have much to learn in terms of tools to make the plan of a "Literacy Central" (a central local for video tutorials and exemplars of key balanced literacy components) a reality (this will undoubtedly be a multi-year, multi-contributor project). Luckily, many of my colleagues, amazing literacy leaders, are already creating some of the pieces that could be plugged into it, such as those highlighted in each section below:

Teachers, IAs, substitutes: Video exemplars of the following with text and voice-overs explaining key points:

Reading workshop: We have a lot of footage of Maggie Moon, our visiting literacy coach modeling and coaching key components of the reading workshop. Vu Lam, a stellar 1st grade teacher has already edited footage of him leading an interactive reading session while coached by Maggie. Once I am more iMovie fluent, I will begin to edit and upload the footage we have of each component of the reading workshop at various grade levels

Administrators, Parents: Videos explaining the rationale and research base of using the balanced literacy framework and building an understanding of how readers and writers develop:

I count on being able to find many of these already created on YouTube or other sites rather than starting from scratch. This one may be a place to start (it is highly rated) but I suspect there are even better ones out there.

Students: Video exemplars of strategies for selecting and planning for reading, effective ways of tracking and sharing thinking with others, collecting and presenting evidence as to how they're progressing as a learner in the area of literacy, etc. Such videos would include:

Reading buddies: KG friends and excellent educators, Cindy and Susi, did a delightful video showing exactly what good reading buddies do and look like. Check it out here.
How to choose a just-right book: Our upper elementary group in this course created an unBEARably kid-friendly guide. Check it out here.

Now to mastering iMovie and screen casting to begin making this plan a reality.

Screen Casts: School Scenarios

2009-10-31T21:19:00.000-07:00

Screen casts have innumerable uses in our current learning landscape. I see three immediate needs that could be met more effectively using screen casts than what is currently done within the scope of our work with teachers, teams, IAs, students, and parents.

1. New Teacher Training
New teachers are overwhelmed with all of the nuts and bolts they have to learn when they first arrive. Imagine if there were a one-stop spot for them to access a tutorial for just-in-time learning as they need it rather than being inundated with information and paper when they first arrive. The following nuts and bolts screen casts are but a few of the many possibilities for this audience:

Taking attendance
Using the online calendars
Finding resources in the libraries (including the professional one)
Finding which books are available in the book room
How to request a substitute
How to access online resources for math, science, etc.

2. Demonstration Lessons
Teams could collaboratively develop demonstration lessons on using specific tools (i.e. measuring tools in science or math.) The purpose here is not to replace live classrooms but to have lessons available for students who were absent and/or need a repeat demonstration, training for new teachers, substitutes, IAs, and parent helpers.

3. Virtual School
Many schools around the world already have or are in the midst of preparing for continued learning in the case of an unforeseen school closing. In the international arena, these school closings have already happened a number of times in the past year. This isn't just an international school concern, however, especially with the H1N1 season raging across the northern hemisphere. Read about this school in Chicago:"Virtual Learning Is an Antidote to School Closure". If we are thoughtful and take time to prepare for the distant learning we want to have, the screen casts discussed in #2 (imagine how helpful some of those would become to parents of younger children) plus those that capture full demonstration lessons, read-alouds with commentaries, science experiments (since having all the equipment at home would be a near impossibility), 10 minute math . . . the list is endless. Suddenly "Snow Days" have taken on a whole new meaning (read Dana's thoughtful reflection on the disappearance of these days many of us so fondly remember.)

Food for Thought

The burning question that remains forefront in my mind is: Why haven't we Wiki-ized ourselves at ISB? Why don’t we collaboratively create an ISB center with tutorials for the many tools that teachers, IAs, adminstrators, students, and parents might access when they are needed for a learning endeavor. Many of these undoubtedly already exist. We now just need the orgainzational framework. Such a centralized approach would not only be using collaboration to work smarter, but would be a huge step in preparing for an effective virtual school in the eventuality of that being needed.

Liquid Learning Landscape

2009-10-31T19:21:00.000-07:00

Change doesn't happen overnight but the shift that has begun in the learning landscape due to the availability of web-based video will only accelerate and deepen each day. I feel that the potential change for learning will be in three fundamental ways.

1. Democratization of Educational Resources

For me, this is the most exciting change that is happening and it will inevitably continue to expand. We are moving from money-making textbook companies to e-textbooks (that are not only text and images but have embedded videos), many of which are collaboratively written (i.e. Wikibooks), and continuously updated online to remain current and accurate. The impact on learning derives from the available information that is based on collective knowledge and understanding and it is not filtered for political reasons. More importantly, these resources will be affordable by anyone who has access to the web. (I'm convinced that the free e-books or almost free will quickly make the costly ones obsolete.) Lastly, imagine the environmental impact of no longer printing millions of textbooks that are costly and quickly outdated. We are still in the infant stages of this process with the attendant difficulties, but e-books will inevitably continue to rapidly develop. The amount of piloting in this area is impressive. Read this great article: "Book Smarts? E-Texts Receive Mixed Reviews From Students".

We are also seeing high priced, high status universities opening their courses to anyone interested. Already Yale and MIT are putting their courses online with many others ready to follow. Those with less ambitious goals can also tap into the extensive resources on iTunes University and Wikiversity, two resources I've just recently discovered. Imagine what these resources will do for those who are truly motivated to learn who historically have never had access to the ideas and thinking now available at these venues.

2. From Literacy to Visuality

This is the 2nd Gutenberg shift, as Kevin Kelly calls it in his insightful article, "Becoming Screen Literate." He describes how we are moving from "book fluency to screen fluency or literacy to visuality." The impact for learning is far reaching. The boundaries that existed between text, image, and video are now blurred and soon to be non-existant. The possibilities this development offers to "bring learning alive" are endless, increasing options for self-directed learning and greater engagement for all.

3. The World is our Learning and Teaching Oyster

There are millions of potential teachers and co-learners available around the world at our finger tips. This phenomenon is already happening (think Wikipedia) and will continue to grow. Why this happens is most clearly explained by Jonathan Zittrain in a summer 09 TedTalk. His hopeful view of the future (because of the internet) is being created by the basic human desire to help others just for the sake of helping. Listen to this:

Do all of these developments mean the end of schools as we know them today? Inevitably. Does it also mean that teachers will be obsolete? Absolutely NOT. Teachers will always be necessary to ask questions that push thinking, facilitate construction of understanding, illuminate connections, and find engaging possibilities for diverse learning styles. Learning will remain as vibrant and alive as ever, but it will be more accessible and "liquid" in location and format.

Learning from the Journey or Doing Time

2009-10-31T01:36:00.000-07:00

Reflection:
1. Process of creating a digital story.
2. Use of digital storytelling.

I have always believed that incomplete or inaccurate solutions can serve as entry points for learning (such as in mathematical problem solving and scientific investigative inquiries). However, sometimes, those mistakes don't easily fit into time frames of our reality.

Sitting next to two outstanding Middle School language teachers, Gaby Jimenez and Carole Henriot, when we were given a chunk of time to work on creating a digital story, we came up with the idea of creating an audio book. Finding ways to get students to have "comprehensible input" in the second language is a constant need for educators as it is the highest priority for second language learning. This is true for all languages so finding a way that we could create web based read-alouds with engaging visuals for students that could be easily adapted from one language to the next would not only give kids opportunity for maximum comprehensible input but would also be a way that our collaborative efforts would be multiplying the loaves and fishes as it were.

So we gave it a shot. Here was our process:
1. From a Spanish book in the ES library we selected a colorful story about a young boy eating . We selected it for the outstanding visuals, the fact that it would be applicable to topics all languages dealt with.
2. After discussing with each other and a few others in the vicinity, we decided to use iMovie (for those using a MAC) and Movie Maker (for those using a PC).
3. We then scanned pictures on a color scanner that can transfer the scans via email.
4. We retyped and recorded the story.
5. We then started attempting to import the visuals into our respective moving making program. We quickly discovered that we needed to do some converting of the scans in order to import.

We quickly ran out of time and never continued this project (thus nothing embedded in this blog) as we found out the following:
• This was turning out to be much more complex than if we had simply used powerpoint or key note, typed in the text and then recorded a voice.
• I Movie and Movie Maker can’t talk to each other (so the wonderful collaboration we originally envisioned wasn't possible). This was too time consuming without the added benefit of being able to cross languages so we abandoned.

So was this a waste of time? Surely not, as I definitely learned several things that day (perhaps not my colleagues who are already much more savvy in the area of movie making!!). I still developed some of the following knowledge and skills that will help me in future digital storytelling.
1. I fine-tuned my scanning abilities, learning some of the subtle differences in the settings.
2. I developed some rudimentary understanding of the new iMovie.
3. I learned some new quick keys for inserting accents used with certain languages for certain programs (these are unfortunately not universal, varying by platform and by program.)
4. I learned how to use the new snowflake microphone (and have since used it for a couple other projects.)
5. I learned some new tricks in manipulating jpegs and pdfs.

When listing these, it makes me wonder if that is why geeks are so proficient. Is it simply that they spend a lot more time than the rest of us mere mortals just mucking around? And through that immersion, into various tools and projects, develop the transferable skills that make them so digitally proficient? Malcolm Gladwell proves in his great read, Outliers, that high performing people in any give area (i.e. sports, music, etc.) have all spent at least 10,000 hours developing the related skills. So, is that the key to becoming a geek and why our kids these days are leaving educators in the dust?

Given my age and my other areas of passion, I don't risk geekhood anytime soon, but I do plan on continuing to pursue digital storytelling as I believe it has two powerful components that can help communicate a message: story framework and engaging imagery. So, the ways that I hope to tap into digital storytelling in the future will be more in creating messages of how learning best happens. I will begin, perhaps, by using a format similar to the video, "Pay Attention," below:

Zen Zone

2009-10-26T04:45:00.000-07:00

How I cringe when thinking of all the text-laden presentations I've done in the past. Trying to mend my ways by following Garr Reynold's presentation zen ideas, I've definitely improved but still am a novice in this area. A typical slide for which I continue to use too much text is in listing meeting outcomes. So, I took a look at a new teacher orientation from the beginning of the year and recooked that page to be more visually based. Here it is:

BEFORE

AFTER

I think the biggest change I will be focusing on now is at the planning stage—avoiding going right to the template (such a lazy default with PPT and Keynote) and spending more time with paper post-its, clarifying my message before going digital.

In reflecting on what Zen is, I found this quote at dictionary.com:

Note: Deliberately irrational statements are sometimes used in Zen to jar persons into realizing the limits of the common uses of the intellect. One well-known example is, “What is the sound of one hand clapping?”

I like how this quote relates to the idea that we need to jolt ourselves out of "common uses" in presentations and find ways to "jar" the audience into engaging and learning with visuals.

Lastly, I turn to Reynolds for inspiration in order to remain patient and peaceful with my personal progress in the "Zen Zone":

"Many people look for the short road and the quick fix to achieve presentation excellence. But it doesn't exist: there are no panaceas or off-the-shelf fixes. Learning to become an exceptional presenter in today's world is a journey. In this journey, there are many paths to presenting in a more "enlightened" way, a way that is appropriate for the world in which we live. The first step down the road to becoming a great presenter is simply seeing--really seeing--that that which passes for normal and ordinary and good enough is off-kilter with how we learn, understand, remember, and engage."

So, I'm hoping to follow Reynold's advice on how to improve:

Read and Study
Just do it
Exercise Your "Right Brain"
Get Out
Lessons Are ALL Around You
It's Within You Already

Question: How can we get more of this "Zen Zone" in our world of education and not just in our presentations?

A picture, worth a thousand conversations

2009-10-25T00:37:00.000-07:00

When thinking about using Creative Commons images in the context of education, I decided to search for some powerful images that could be used to launch long term discussions to cultivate five key habits of mind.

Metacognitive

How can we be reflective and think about our thinking? How do we know what we know and how can we use that to become a more effective life-long learner?

flikr: TZA

Innovative

How can we find creative solutions so that all children enjoy the same rights?

flickr: INZAKI

Tenacious

“We only think when we’re confronted with problems” John Dewey. How can we learn to regularly engage in, stick with, and tackle problems that take time and demand lots of thinking to solve?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/colemama/3942606430/in/pool-858082@N25

Empathic

How can we take the perspective of others, walk in their shoes, reflect on the level of justice around the world and what can we do to make it better for one and all?

flikr:sibtainn

Inquisitive

What if we started each unit of study with a series of photos that simultaneously activated their background knowledge and elicited their wonderings, uncovering what they wanted to know more about?

flikr: ViaMoi

21st Century Savvy or a Digital Dilettante?

2009-10-24T22:52:00.000-07:00

In reflecting on how this series of courses for the International School of Bangkok's Certificate of Educational Technology and Informational Literacy has impacted my professional life thus far, I've decided to use the lenses of the ISB 21’s framework upon which these courses are built: How have I become a more effective learner, communicator, creator, and collaborator?

EFFECTIVE LEARNER

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/1385069960/

In becoming a more effective 21st century learner, I feel I have progressed the most in using the reflection process required by writing the blogs. I have always been highly reflective (in fact, perhaps too much so) and have long realized the benefit of writing as a reflective tool. Having the options of embedding visuals, links, and videos have added 2.0 dimensions to my reflections and brought my references alive. More importantly, however, is the fact that my reflections are out there for the world, availing myself to a larger audience than just myself or “the professor” in a class situation. Having such an opportunity to share with a wider group is a motivator that holds the potential for increased quality and connection to other learners around the world.

The second area of progress as a learner has come through gathering information via my RSS feeder, which has helped me search for and receive timely information on given topics of interest or research. The most useful item in that arena is using the Google search RSS feeder option.

QUESTION: In thinking about developing more effective learners (myself included), I'm wondering How can we help students and ourselves become more tenacious in trying to solve real world problems and not simply being satisfied solving personal problems of entertainment, advancement or social connections?

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATOR & CREATOR

http://www.flickr.com/photos/abhishek-kumar/429409641/

In developing as a more effective communicator & creator, I've become more aware of possible media options to communicate and create in a way that is more linked to the world. I still have yet to use these on a regular basis to create. The most powerful learning related to communication has been in reading and trying to apply the principles of Presentation Zen.

I now feel more equipped to be a more responsible communicator, finding effective visuals (rather than the former favorite Google image search) and giving due credit for these visuals using flikr and Creative Commons. As I move forward in this area, I look forward to creating more of my own visuals to meet specific needs.

QUESTION: Are we developing as effective communicators creators for a better world for all or just for those who are currently connected?

EFFECTIVE GLOBAL COLLABORATOR

http://www.flickr.com/photos/me_on_flickr/3489830404/

In becoming a more effective global collaborator, I remain a neophyte. I now more regularly use collaborative tools such as wikis and Google apps, but feel I have not really tapped into a global communication network or developed my own virtual professional learning network.

QUESTION: As I read more blogs and tap into sources from around the world, I wonder, How can we encourage more global collaboration across the social, economic, cultural, and ideological divides?

CONCLUSION

I am neither fully 21st century skilled nor simply a digital dabbler, but somewhere in canyon of the digital divide, hoping to help contribute to the bridge that will bring powerful tools and thinking to everyone regardless of where and to whom they happened to be born.

Mass Collaboration: My Muddled Mind or Misunderstood misnomer?

2009-05-12T05:10:00.000-07:00

Unsure what is actually meant by “mass collaboration” I decided to consult Wikipedia, the one example that I believed to be a successful digital mass collaborative project. According to Wikipedia, “Mass collaboration is a form of collective action that occurs when large numbers of people work independently on a single project, often modular in its nature. Such projects typically take place on the internet using social software and computer-supported collaboration tools”

I next went to the recommended reading, the Wikinomics website. There, after some perusal, I came across “Beyond the Classroom” in the Wikinomics wiki, which is taking the ideas of Wikinomics and applying them to the educational setting. I have a few comments and questions:

• Are file cabinets really the current common shared curriculum storage option? Haven’t most schools been using shared servers for some time?

• Doesn’t a database of quizzes, lesson plans seem to be contradictory to the co-constructing of the curriculum as proposed earlier in the writing?

• Why are we talking of totally transforming education yet still discussing textbooks? In other areas text book learning is spurned so why are we figuring out how to do more textbooks?

"(In our classroom wiki) 97% of edits (over 9000 overall) were student-generated. . . . This is largely due to there being an explicit requirement to participate - without the reward of grades, I'm not entirely sure if there would be as much effort."
• So is this the 21st century extrinsically motivated hoop jumping? Can’t collaborative learning that encourages analysis, evaluation, and creation also be done in f2f situations?

I think all educators will agree (and have for quite some time)on the need for and benefits of developing collaborative skills in students. And I believe some of the web-based tools will facilitate such collaboration digitally. Perhaps we need to collaborate on the above mentioned wiki.

Meanwhile I’m still struggling with the term “mass”. According to dictionary.com this adjective is “pertaining to a large number of people: i.e mass unemployment; mass migrations." So, I’m curious to find examples of collaboration that truly involve masses. Even though I used to consider Wikipedia to be a good example of mass collaboration, Clay Shirkey in Here Comes Everybody explains that there are actually just a few contributors who do the majority of the writing and work on Wikipedia. Therefore the term “mass” seems to be a misnomer. Let’s look more closely at Shirkey’s analysis and explanation of the Power Law.

“The relationship between audience size and conversational pattern. The curved line represents the power-law distribution of weblogs ranked by audience size. Weblogs at the left-hand side of the graph have so many readers that they are limited to the broadcast pattern, because you can’t interact with millions of readers. As size of readership falls, loose conversation becomes possible, because the audiences are smaller. The long tail of weblogs, with just a few readers each, can support tight conversation, where every reader is also a writer and vice-versa.”

If this so, then how can collaboration ever be “mass”?

What if?

Even if mass collaboration is not realistic , we can all agree on the collaborative mind set that is so well matched to the Web 2.0 world. Therefore, why don’t we be the change we hope to see?

• What if we had created a collaborative ISB wiki on copyright and related issues rather than individually blog about it? Imagine how powerful the collective knowledge, creativity, and original ideas might serve our community?

• What if we had created a collaborative ISB wiki for online safety (rather than individually blogging about it) to be contributed to and consulted by students, teachers, parents, and the world?

How about next time we all put effort in creating a greater “collaborative footprint”

http://www.flickr.com/photos/neloqua/11486115/

Web Power--which one?

2009-05-11T05:36:00.000-07:00

Where does the power of the Web lie?
I am not sure what this questions means. What do we mean by power in this context? According to Dictionary.com, power means "ability to do or act; capability of doing or accomplishing something." So let's explore some possible powers in the webbed world.

Power needed for Web Power
Before we get too intellectual about power, perhaps we need to first look at the power (meaning electrical energy) needed to permit the more esoteric and varied powers the web potentially holds. Here is a great article by the Guardian:
Web providers must limit internet's carbon footprint, say experts: Soaring online demand stretching companies' ability to deliver content as net uses more power and raises costs

Question: What is being done by the biggest users in this arena? Is each of us aware of our own impact and how we might diminish that? There will be no power in the web if there is no power for the web. What if we put everything in the cloud but can no longer reliably reach it?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/naughton321/136464207/

Potential Powers

If the energy source can be sustained, there is enormous potential for powers such as:

Power of knowledge: As Sir Francis Bacon is know to have claimed in his Meditations, 1597, Knowledge is Power. The Power-knowledge is a concept coined by the French philosopher Michel Foucault: "Power is based on knowledge and makes use of knowledge; on the other hand, power reproduces knowledge by shaping it in accordance with its anonymous intentions. Power (re-) creates its own fields of exercise through knowledge." If this is so, just imagine the power potential with those connected to Google, Wikipedia, Wikibooks, MIT open courses . . . .

http://wwwdelivery.superstock.com/WI/223/1555/PreviewComp/SuperStock_1555R-1095.jpg

Power of Persuasion: Visuals have always been a powerful key to persuade the viewers. For example, look at these Posters of WWII, some of which still are recognizable today.

http://blog.oregonlive.com/idiotbox/2008/05/large_uncle-sam.jpg

For those wanting to tap into this visual power in their persuasive presentations, I encourage you to read Presentation Zen and add Presentation Zen webiste to your RSS feeder!

Power to organize oneself: For those of us who have never enjoyed organizing papers, files, personal documents, etc. the new organizational tools hold huge potential power to tap into one of our dearest resources--time. As a novice, here are a few of my favorites:

Delicious
iGoogle
RSS Feeder

What other ones to you suggest?

Power to communicate: None of you are probably old enough to remember living as an expat prior to the internet, but I'll assure you that is was a drastically different life simply because it was much more challenging to stay closely connected to those living elsewhere. Even though many are seeing email a thing of the past, it is still used extensively to connect people. Yes, the social networking, Skype type communications have virtually made the distance seem to disappear.

http://www.bi.no/FellesFiles/_NY DESIGN FRA 2007/artikkelbilder/508 pixler/kommunikasjon508.jpg

Power to take action, make change: Of all of the potential powers, the power for individuals and groups to make a difference is for me the most important one. For an excellent reflection on this, I encourage you to read Social Movements 2.0: Harnessing the Power of the Web for Change.

So, where does the power of the web lie? Potential power is there for the taking--for those who have the energy source and tools to tap into it.

Is the power of the web, like most power throughout history, once again inextricably linked to one's socio-economic level?

It Takes a Village

2009-05-10T02:38:00.000-07:00

http://www.flickr.com/photos/13112172@N03/2650906412/

In trying to respond to the question“Whose responsibility is it to teach students to be safe online?” (course two of the ISB Certificate of Educational Technology and Information Literacy), I have surfed and read heart-rendering accounts of cruelty, pain, and death related to cyberbullying.

It would be hard to refute that cyberbullying is a significant social problem. Some of my colleagues assert that it is silly to think cyberbullying is something new—bullying has been around forever. However, if the statistics are to be believed, cyberbullying is different in that it is having a much greater impact on lives and society because the power of the communication tools accessible to our students is exponentially greater than anything we could have imagined when growing up.

As Wikipedia states, “Cyber-bullying involves the use of information and communication technologies to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behavior by an individual or group, that is intended to harm others.” Yes, bullying has always existed, but cyberbullying has magnified impact due to the perceived anonymity of the bully and its almost instantaneous spread like a killer virus.

We, as a society, need to put our collaborative hearts and minds together to tackle cyberbullying around the world. When researching how various groups are dealing with cyberbullying, I was a disappointed to see that much of what is out there deals with punishment. I agree that there need to be consequences for inflicting harm, but researchers have found that the threat of punishment rarely works well as a deterrent for individuals. Secondly, many of such proposed punishments clearly cross constitutional rights in regards to freedom of speech. Take a look at the proposed Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Act:

Whoever transmits in interstate or foreign commerce any communication, with the intent to coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress to a person, using electronic means to support severe, repeated, and hostile behavior, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.

Even though we can sympathize with the mother who proposed the Act (her daughter committed suicide directly linked to cyberbullying), most people can quickly see the risk such an act has for our freedom of speech. (See Eugene Volokh’s reaction, professor of law at UCLA School of Law). As throughout the history of communities trying to create a just society, there is the ongoing tension and challenge of balancing individual rights and the common good. (Click here for a more in depth discussion about cyberbullying and the tension of rights and responsibilities in schools.)

So what to do? My proposal in addressing cyberbullying is threefold:

1. We all take responsibility: that means, parents, friends, colleagues, students, adults, citizens—everyone. I was shocked at all the finger pointing and blaming that happens with these cases. Yes, schools have a role, but it isn’t solitary. Yes, parents have a role, but they can’t do it alone. In order for us to make the world a safer and more equitable place, we all need to step up to the plate. Here are a couple of examples where communities are taking a "village" approach:

In the UK, BeatBullying, a nonprofit organization, believes in a community approach to this issue. They have trained 700 teens to mentor bullying victims in both face-to-face meetings and through a new Web service called CyberMentors.
Look here to see how one Kentucky community has established a partnership between the police department and students at the high school to tackle the problem of cyberbullying.
This episode of Adina's deck of teens tackling cyberbullying looks promising as a way of teens taking action.

2. Embed the teaching of online safety in the discussion and study of the bigger questions with which society struggles in order for the understanding of the students to be more enduring and more widely applicable. Unless we teach kids to wrestle with the enduring questions of humanity, they will not know how to address them in this ever-changing landscape.

I haven’t found anything at the primary or secondary level yet. I guess that is an area that needs tackling. If you know if any, please send them my way.

3. Look at the root cause of cyberbullying rather than only trying to address the symptoms? At the heart of the issue come the questions: What need is being met for the bully? How can we help kids get those needs met in a healthier, more constructive manner? What are the interpersonal relationships at play and how do we work with improving those? Here are a couple of promising options in this vein:

CAPSULE, Creating a Peaceful School Learning Environment, a “school-wide intervention focusing on empathy and power dynamics.”
Childnet International video: This could serve as a good discussion starter analyzing what is happening and why--relating to what students see in their own lives.

Does our ES AUP address this problem? Only minimally, in the beginning part about “Respect others”. I think for it to be effective, the AUP needs to be put into kid language and have some very concrete, age appropriate ideas for kids. More importantly, I feel all of this needs to be embedded and woven throughout students’ learning opportunities. Simply signing a sheet won’t solve the problem. It will take each one of us in our global village taking a role to enjoy the power of today's communication tools while simultaneously keeping users safe.

"You must be the change you want to see in the world."

Copyright and Fair Use: Web 2.0 Rights and Responsibilties

2009-04-18T08:11:00.000-07:00

It is obvious from the many videos, articles, papers, lawsuits, and debates currently happening around the world that copyright laws need to be revised in order to balance the rights of educators to use digital content (Fair Use) and the responsibility to honor creators' intellectual rights (Copyright) in the Web 2.0 world of creation and collaboration.

Problems

I found the white paper, The Digital Learning Challenge: Obstacles to Educational uses of Copyrighted Material in the Digital Age, published by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, that explored "whether innovative educational uses of digital technology were hampered by the restrictions of copyright.” extremely informative. Their research identified four key obstacles current copyright law creates for educators:

1 Unclear or inadequate copyright law relating to crucial provisions such as fair use and educational use; This is why rulings are so unpredictable and sometimes swayed by the judge's moral stance. "Fair use involves subjective judgments and are often affected by factors such as a judge or jury 's personal sense of right or wrong." (From Standford University's website on Copyright & Fair Use.)

2. Extensive adoption of “digital rights management” technology to lock up content;

3. Practical difficulties obtaining the right to use content when licenses are necessary;

4. Undue caution by gatekeepers such as publishers or educational administrators.

Solutions

As with the privacy issue faced by educators and students tapping into the digital power of Web 2.0, there are legal, technological and self-regulatory steps we need in order to tackle the current problems.

Legal: These steps would include amendments to the Copyright law, rewriting the TEACH Act, reducing statutory damages for educational infringement, and reforming licensing much like Creative Commons has done.

Technological: These steps would include using tools ("automated interactive licensing) that facilitate getting copyright clearance. “Digital tools could automate and lubricate much of the clearance process, from analyzing whether a license is necessary to securing a license if required.”

Self-regulatory: These steps, which educators can and should tackle immediately are

1. Defining and developing educator best-practices in the use of digital content. Some examples are . . . I would add that as groups of educators define and develop common agreements, they need to first and foremost build common understanding using such excellent sources as the following:

Lesson plans on teaching about Copyright and Fair Use from Temple University's Media Lab
Copyright, What's Copyright Video
User's Rights, Section 107 Video
MIT's introduction course to Copyright
Creative Commons videos to build understanding

2. Making educationally useful content easily accessible to educators

Conclusion
Digital content offers incredible, unprecedented opportunities for teaching and learning around the world. If we are to truly tap into this rich resource, we need to confront the obstacles mentioned in the Berkman paper. As educators we can no longer sit back and wait for others to take action, we need to be involved in the legal, technological, and personal steps necessary to turn this powerful potential into a shared creative and collaborative culture.

Online privacy: possible, probable, or prohibitive?

2009-04-17T06:45:00.000-07:00

As we enjoy the increased advantages of the web 2.0 social world, share ware and “cloud” storage, I concur with the Center for Democracy & Technology that online data privacy is becoming the primary concern of internet users. If not dealt with appropriately, the huge potential the internet holds for the world will be greatly limited.

Even the Net Gen cheerleader, Don Topscott, sees this “dark cloud . . that few Net Geners have yet seen. . . I don’t think the Net Geners fully understand the long-term consequences of sharing intimate information about themselves with the world.” In his book Grown Up Digital, he is alerting us all to the perils hidden on the other side of all these great new tools we've started to take for granted:

1. Miniature audio and video recorders:
Positive = convenience,
Negative = anyone can get a picture of you almost anytime (with or without you being aware) and upload it and share as they choose (not you!)

2. Cell phones with GPS:
Positive = help for when you’re lost or in an emergency situation;
Negative = you can be tracked 24/7/365

3. Social networking software:
Positive = quick, easy connection and access to friends;
Negative = not always having the ability to control what information you’re sharing with whom.

4. Online shopping/banking:
Positive = convenience and time saver;
Negative = sending private data out to the cloud (hoping that it is well encrypted), risk of stolen identities

5. Google (and other powerful search engines):
Positive = powerful search engine
Negative = gathering and selling information about you without your knowledge

Luckily, as the Center for Democracy and Technology states, “a unique combination of tools -- legal, technical, and self-regulatory -- is being designed to address the privacy concerns of Internet users.” Therefore, as educators and internet users, we need to educate ourselves and our students to take the self-regulatory and technical steps possible to safe guard our online data privacy. And as citizens we need to fight for adequate legal regulations that will address these privacy risks.

Self-Regulatory and Technical Steps

Here are a few good resources to increase our own understanding of how to improve privacy and help our students understand

1. 5 steps to better online privacy (includes list for several technical privacy tools including firewalls, cookie removers, anonymous web browsers, and anti-spyware tools) from the Australian government.

2. Extensive guide to Online Privacy from the Center for Democracy & Technology

3. On Guard Online (a Web site sponsored by the federal government and the technology industry to help users stay on guard against Internet fraud, secure their computers, and protect their personal information.) which includes tips, interactive “Cyber smarts” quizzes, and videos about online safety.

Mobile Platform and Cloud Computing

As more and more users online time is shifting to the mobile platform functioning "in the cloud", it is key to learn about and talk with kids about guarding their privacy there as well. The Center for Digital Democracy came up with Ten Questions To Ask Your Cell Phone Provider—and the Online Marketers They Work With—to Protect Your Mobile Privacy.

Legal and Technical Steps

The above issues were some of the more obvious ones. Luckily there are legislative organizations tackling the more complex and "invisible" online privacy issues. Check out this YouTube 7-minute video interview with Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, about the state of online privacy and the challenges citizens face today.

You may also want to check out their extensive Online Guide to Practical Privacy Tools (i.e. snoop proof email, anonymous surfing, and encryption tools.)

It is evident that we need to have regulations in order for companies to be responsible in safeguarding and educating consumers about privacy issues. Here are some specific recent legal actions being taken in this arena:

1. FTC's Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)
2. European Union takes legal action against a British online advertising technology
3. EPIC Files FTC complain concerning GOOGLE Data breach, calls for federal investigation into cloud computing security

Still wondering . . .

We obviously have a long road ahead in our journey of trying to secure online privacy. I remain curious to see to what extent we will ever be able to safeguard our online privacy and to what extent companies will help or hinder the average user in reaching this goal. I remain cautiously hopeful that human ingenuity will overcome all obstacles at the technical and self-regulatory levels. However, don't we need international level of legal steps since functioning in the cloud does not correspond to geopolitcal borders? If we can't get unanimous agreement on nuclear disarmament or a ban on landmines, how can we hope that all nations will agree to the same level of online privacy legislation?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/room929/428260081/

Foot loose, fancy free or crippling foot binding?

2009-03-22T23:42:00.000-07:00

What is a digital footprint? (Or finger print, as Rob Rubis proposes as a more appropriate name.)

I have to confess that I had no idea what was meant by a digital footprint a week ago. Therefore, before I can have an opinion of this issue within education, I need to build my own understanding.

There are many available definitions out there including Wikipedia (which in December 2007 had no entry): "Digital Footprints are traces left by someone's activity in a digital environment." The ikeepsafe, an organization that helps families create safe online experiences, puts it in kid-friendly terms: Simply put, a digital footprint is the amount of content, whether it be words, photographs, audio, or video, that is traceable to a given individual. The PEW report then distinguishes between a passive and active digital footprint:

PASSIVE: Personal data made accessible online with no deliberate intervention from an individual.
ACTIVE: Personal data made accessible online through deliberate posting or sharing of information by the user.

So, in launching a discussion about digital footprints with kids, it may be beneficial to show a real basic video such as this one, From before birth to after death, or What's your digital footprint by Debbie Wiel to build some common understanding:

What's Your Digital Footprint?

View more presentations from Debbie Weil.

So what is my imprint?

According to the Pew Report, 47% of online users (published in Dec, 2007) have searched for information about themselves online, up from just 22% five years ago. More than just googling yourself or RSS feeding a tag, it might be an interesting reflection for kids to think about how their digital habits correlate to how much of a footprint they'll have. Similar to the carbon footprint calculators, there are now possibilities for you to reflect on your daily life and the resulting digital imprint. Here are two:
1. From EMC
2. From Discovery

So who cares?

As the PEW report states, "most internet users are not concerned about the amount of information available about them online, and most do not take steps to limit that information. Fully 60% of internet users say they are not worried about how much information is available about them online. Similarly, the majority of online adults (61%) do not feel compelled to limit the amount of information that can be found about them online."

However, there are now enough stories out there justifying all of us caring about monitoring and maintaining a positive digital footprint. As professionals, we need to realize that a growing percentage of employers are checking:

A recent CareerBuilder study found that 26% of all hiring managers use search engines to research the digital footprint of potential applicants and a staggering 50% of recruiters for college graduate jobs exhibited the same behavior. 63% of hiring managers admitted that what they found about applicants on social networks, to use one media type, caused them to not make an offer to applicants.

For those working with HS students, " A recent study by the University of Massachusetts' Center for Market Research found that 26% of college admission offices use search engines to research applicants and 21% search for information about applicants on social networks."

So, what can we do?

I agree with Susi that this all feels a bit “big brotherish” but it also offers opportunities and is the future of our own “professional marketing”

"Put Your Best Digital Footprint Forward: Career Expert Offers Seven Tips for Managing" is a straightforward guide to being proactive for us adults.

For some, you may want to try and "erase" some of your footprint, but this is no easy feat. The BBC in an article entitled "Spread of our digital footprint" asserts that “Wiping your digital footprint completely off the web may be an extreme and expensive measure. It is certainly much better to be careful of what info you let out in the first place”

For kids, awareness is the first step--what is my digital footprint and why do I need to be thinking about this. From there, we need to give students age-appropriate skills to be proactive in monitoring their footprint.

Still wondering

1. Developmentally, adolescents need to play with and try out new identities, take risks, and be able to "grow up" without having to pay a debt later. What implications are there with their current social networking explorations and the permanent prints left?

2. Does anyone really know to what extent our information is being used and/or abused? What is the line between being part of a wonderfully connected world and avoiding the "Hoover" types who want to take advantage? (Imagine what J. Edgar would do in today's world--scary!)

3. How do we learn from the marketing departments who are positively tapping into digital foot printing to help us all become savvier in this area?

Final Reflection on Course #1- Information Literacy and Ourselves as Learners

2009-03-01T04:34:00.000-08:00

Project: ES Curriculum Wiki Resource Page

This resource is something I have been thinking about doing for a long time as there is a need for a centrally located, web-based resource center for subject area curriculum. It will be an on-going effort just to get up and running, but the real success will only happen once it becomes a collaborative endeavor and useful resource for teachers. I’ll be most fascinated to see how it evolves over time.

Life-long Learning

This is the best part of this course, of life—the fact that we continue to learn. We live such privileged lives with the world being so accessible at our fingertips. With all that I’ve read (or heard) from my colleagues and others along the way during this course, I have so much more to learn and explore such as:

• Glogster: Chrissy Hellyer referred to this and I’m intrigued—want to check out the possibilities.
• Google calendar: Because of the collaborative capabilities, I’d like to create a curriculum and professional development calendar that is continually updated so that we can always see what people are involved in. I’ll see where this leads. Also, wouldn’t teams or each of the divisions find a google calendar helpful? To be explored.
• Shelfari: Rob referred to this in one of his blogs. Given my love of books, I look forward to exploring this one further.
• Classroom 2.0 Ning: “the social network for those interested in Web 2.0 and collaborative technologies in education.” I hope this can be an entry point for myself into a network of educators since they say, “We especially hope that those who are "beginners" will find this a supportive community and a comfortable place to start being part of the digital dialog.”
• Flatclassroom Conference: Julie Lindsay has definitely whetted my appetite to explore this project and other ones they're involved in.
• Zen Presentations: Kim and Jeff have mentioned this before and I understood the general gist, but want to pursue this further and read the book!
• Many blogs—great thinking, provocative questions, links to more ideas, resources . . . Look forward to having the time to respond to many more now.

Remaining Questions:

Once again, I’m reminded that life and learning are much more about the journey than the destination. With the networked world and ever-evolving tools, this is even more evident. I continue to have some fundamental questions that I’ll consider to ponder along the way:

1. Will we come together to continually search for ways to deepen understanding, not only technological tool skills?
2. Will we find ways to increase and improve the f2f community, not just the networked social community?
3. Will we find a way to balance between our virtual and f2f lives, relationships, and commitments?
4. Will we find a way to tap into this amazing social revolution to improve the world for everyone, not just those who happened to be born in the right place?

Thank you, Jeff, Kim, and colleagues for the learning opportunities you helped facilitate, your reflections, and your passion for improving learning for students. I look forward to the on-going journey!

What is the relationship between our use of technology and critical thinking?

2009-03-01T03:12:00.000-08:00

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/1384170855/

It was refreshing to hear during our discussion yesterday that other educators are as concerned as I am about our role in developing students’ critical thinking skills and how current technology may be impacting that effort.

In "Is Technology Producing A Decline in Critical Thinking And Analysis?" Published by Science Daily out of UCLA, there is reference to research from Patricia Greenfield about how visual literacy has increased, but depth of thought is declining. Her view of technology integration was refreshing, as it seemed balanced and based on actual data.

“No one medium is good for everything,” Greenfield sad. “If we want to develop a variety of skills, we need a balanced media diet. Each medium has costs and benefits in terms of what skills each develops.” She then goes on to talk about advantages and disadvantages of various media. Prensky should perhaps focus his ranting towards laparoscopic surgeons rather than educators as there is data that say gaming skills are a good predictor of these surgeons’ success.

Greenfield also refers to studies of classes where students are listening to speakers: Those who did NOT have access to Internet learned more than those who did. I think this speaks to the issue brought up during our open forum yesterday about focused listening and our need to work with students about when and where use of certain tools is appropriate and helpful and when they’re not. Perhaps if the US Congressmen had had such guidance, they wouldn’t have produced such embarrassingly juvenile twitter statements yesterday when listening to Obama’s speech. (click here to see Washington Post article.)

Are we becoming "Googlized?"

Greenfield also cites research about how “multi-tasking prevents people from getting a deeper understanding of information.” This speaks directly to the article from the Atlantic, "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" As Nicholas Carr, the author, writes, “The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle.” He attributes this to the extensive time he spends on time surfing and searching, as well as interacting with his multiple other communication tools. I was disturbed to what extent I have felt the exact same thing happening to me.

Greenfield refers to studies that show that reading develops “imagination, induction, reflection and critical thinking, as well as vocabulary . . . reading for pleasure is the key to developing these skills.” Carr similarly refers to Maryanne Wolf, a developmental psychologist from Tufts University who says, “We are not only what we read. We are how we read.” Wolf hypothesizes that the current approach of online reading for efficiency may be turning us into information decoders rather than deeply engaged readers who interpret, make connections, and grow original ideas. And she argues (and I believe many of us would concur) “deep reading is indistinguishable from deep thinking.”

Like we were all talking about yesterday, the current media seem to make us all a bit ADHD (not to mention OCD). Carr’s analysis is that since most online content is injected with “hyperlinks, blinking ads, and gewgaws” that we are distracted and unable to fully concentrate. Carr goes on to assert that Google and other such companies do not want to encourage “leisurely reading or slow, concentrated thought. It’s in their economic interest to drive us to distraction.” How true—the more links I click on the more revenue in their account.

I appreciate what Google does in terms of efficiently giving me access to information and more effectively organizing the “tsunami of information” available. However, I now, more than ever, believe that we educators need to focus our energies and talents on finding ways to keep the deep and critical thinking central to what we have kids spend their time and energy on, regardless of the tools involved.

Adopt and Adapt: Implications for teaching & learningImplications for teaching & learning

2009-03-01T00:15:00.000-08:00

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pagedooley/3032068934/

Obviously I’m an ignorant 21st century immigrant, but Prensky once again makes assertions that I find not only annoying, but make me wonder what his vision is for "Edutopia."

Catchy phrase, but on what grounds does Mr Prensky base all of his assertions about digital natives?

I agree with what many bright “connected” educators have to say about the “myth of digital natives” (read this commentary—as well as one by Chrissy Hellyer who led me to the connection!) However, I’ve not had any hard data on which to base my own thinking.

Now, having a couple 20 something digital natives live with us for several months, I wonder what data Prensky has to make these sweeping generalizations. These digital natives grew up in an economically advantaged situation, attending private schools and universities while having all the latest in technology at their finger tips. They are both very “connected” via technology, but not much more than me, the digital geezer?

Interestingly enough, there are some ways that they prefer to do “old things in the old way” that I would never even consider. For example, they both write their blogs out by hand before revising and posting. Here I am, the digital dinosaur, who hasn’t written anything by hand in many years. But Prensky says that we digital immigrants are the problem, the barrier to effective use of technology in the educational setting. Hmmm. . . . are we dialoguing with ALL kids and getting their input as to how these tools might help them learn or are we purposely creating a divide between "us" and "them"?

Implications for teaching and learning

How about Prensky's statement that today’s students request to have email and instant messaging . . . “that they NEED things faster than their teachers.” Like the digital natives, we are all expecting faster turn around time. But like us digital dinosaurs, the digital natives are questioning their “addictions” to some of these tools. For example, there are many digital natives giving up “facebook” for lent right this minute, as they think it is disruptive to their focus and studies. Interesting—what would Mr. Prensky have to say about that one?

What kind of learning does he value?

“I bet they would complete the “standard” curriculum in half the time it now takes.” So, Mr. Prensky believes the curriculum is about “getting through” or “coverage” rather than thinking and building understanding? I guess us dinosaurs just think more slowly (I do think my mind has been Googlized) than the digital natives or is it perhaps that Prensky prefers doing things fast to doing things well?

The New World of Work and the Seven Survival Skills (Wagner)

There are many futurists attempting to predict what kids will need for the unknowable future. For example, here is Tim Wagner’s list from The Global Achievement Gap:

1. Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
2. Collaboration Across Networks and Leading by Influence
3. Agility and Adaptability
4. Initiative and Entrepreneurialism
5. Effective Oral and Written Communication
6. Accessing and Analyzing Information
7. Curiosity and Imagination

Shouldn’t we educators be thinking of how we’re going to adopt and adapt our current paradigms in order to embed these key needed skills in meaningful, authentic learning, while simultaneously tapping into the appropriate (and often engaging) tools available?

Horizon Report

For that very reason, I think this report is informative and at the same time looking for solutions for the future that simultaneously recognize how kids are meeting their social needs of connection. For example, in the conclusion they state, “educational program could be positioned to step in and support moments when youth are motivated to move from friendship-driven to more interest-driven forms of new media use.” They are recognizing where kids are, but looking for specific ideas where educators can tap into for learning.

The report also recognizes that the focus should be about learning when they suggestion “kids and adults should first be on the same page on the normative questions of learning and literacy.” What a idea—dialoguing about what we need to learn and why BEFORE we talk tools!

The report also brings up the key issue of getting access to the many disadvantaged kids so this current “social revolution” doesn’t remain accessible only to the “elite.” I would like to read more about this issue so we don’t be come further divided between the haves and the have-nots. Anyone have some suggested reading, connections, thoughts on that one?

What does it mean to “create” or “be creative”? (How are my thoughts changing?)

2009-02-26T05:08:00.000-08:00

Bloom's digital taxonomy map

Given that the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy now places “creating” at the top of higher order thinking skills, perhaps it is important that we strive to build a common understanding as to what that means. I appreciate what Andrew Churches has done in giving concrete examples how "creating" can happen in the digital world:

Programming – Whether it is creating their own applications, programming macros or developing games or multimedia applications within structured environments, students are routinely creating their own programs to suit their needs and goals.
Filming, animating, videocasting, podcasting, mixing and remixing – these relate to the increasing availability of multimedia and multimedia editing tools. Students frequently capture, create, mix and remix content to produce unique products.
Directing and producing – to directing or producing a product, performance or production is a highly creative process. It requires the student to have vision, understand the components and meld these into a coherent product.
Publishing – whether via the web or from home computers, publishing in text, media or digital formats is increasing. Again this requires a huge overview of not only the content being published, but the process and product. Related to this concept are also Video blogging – the production of video blogs, blogging and also wiki-ing - creating, adding to and modify content in wikis. Creating or building Mash ups would also fit here

Are all creations equal?

It is obvious from the above definitions that creating in the digital world can take many forms and be done with innumerable tools, all of which are applicable in the educational arena. However, I wonder how we, as educators, facilitate performances of understanding where students are required to “create” while getting the biggest impact on learning regardless of the tool or medium?

David Perkins in Making Learning Whole cites two “creative” approaches to biology teaching ideas he’s observed: “dancing mitosis (students designed a dance to play out the steps of mitosis) and designing a fish (students were asked to design a fish to fit within some aquatic ecology. The students had to devise distinctive and reasonable adaptations of the fish that gave it its own ecological niche, profile the lifestyle and adaptive advantages of the creature, and also position it taxonomically.)"

As Perkins notes, both performances of understanding required students to create and be creative (and employed many of the tools and/or media mentioned above). However, which creative endeavor was simultaneously building conceptual understanding? I concur with Perkins that as educators we need to ask for creations that build understanding that aligns with the purpose of the learning and requires thinking within that discipline.

So are all creations creative?

I was first introduced to Sir Ken Robinson a couple of years ago when a friend shared this highly entertaining Ted Talk:

I was thrilled to learn that Robinson recently published a book, The Element, where he delves into creativity or being “in the element--the point between natural aptitude and personal passion.” I agree with him whole-heartedly that we need to be more in tune with children’s passions, to encourage and help them nourish those passions rather than suppress them. I also agree that we don’t always see certain natural aptitudes as positive because they don’t fit the “box” of learning we often create in schools. I haven’t yet finished the book, but I’m wondering how we balance the desire to facilitate finding “the element” and nourishing the vital critical thinking skills in all our students? I’m also wondering whether I know where my “element” is and/or if I have the courage to find it?

Reflection on Here Comes Everybody

2009-02-26T04:40:00.000-08:00

In what ways is the Web 2.0 impacting our lives and our society?

If you’re like me and you enjoy thinking about “the big picture” and are constantly wondering about the implications of the current “social revolution”, then I strongly encourage you to read Clay Shirky’s book, Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations (Penguin, 2008). As the flap states, “Clay Shirky, one of the new culture’s wisest observers, gives us his lucid and penetrating analysis.” I have only read the first four chapters and I concur because Shirky helps the reader place the current “revolution” in the context of human evolution, comparing it to other such key “revolutionary” eras in order to generalize and draw conclusions. This book is a level of big picture thinking analysis that I haven’t found thus far in reading about the impact the Web 2.0 will have on our lives and our society. I have selected a few quotes with my accompanying “wonderings.”

CHAOS

“Because social effects lag behind technological ones by decades, real revolutions don’t involve an orderly transition from point A to point B. Rather, they go from A through a long period of chaos and only then reach B. In that chaotic period, the old systems get broken long before new ones become stable. In the late 1400s scribes existed side by side with publishers but no longer performed an irreplaceable service.” It seems to me we are in that period of chaos where old systems are starting to break down or dissolve. Where are we in this period of chaos? Some of these systems seem obvious, such as publishers and schools. What other systems are breaking down and what are we doing to help reach point B?

CHANGE

“Most organizations believe they have much more freedom of action and much more ability to shape their future than they actually do, and evidence that the ecosystem is changing in ways they can’t control usually creates considerable anxiety, even if the change is good for society as a whole.” There is a tangible anxiety in the world of education right now. For those of us who enjoy and welcome change, what are we doing to diminish the anxiety of others?

COMMUNICATION

“Saying something to a few people we know used to be quite distinct from saying something to many people we don’t know. The distinction between communications and broadcast media was always a function of technology rather than a deep truth about human nature. Prior to the internet, when we talked about media, we were talking about two different things: broadcast media and communications media . . . The distinction between broadcast and communications, which is to say between one-to-many and one-to-one tools, used to be so clear that we could distinguish between a personal and impersonal message just by the type of medium used. Someone writing you a letter might say “I love you,” and someone on TV might say “I love you,” but you would have no trouble understanding which of those messages was addressed to you . . . much of what gets posted on any given day is in public but not for the public.” Are the digital natives clear about who their audience is and the degree to which they are being “public”? What are we doing as educators to help them clarify their intent and audience?

CHALLENGES

“Now we know that the Web is not a perfect antidote to the problems of mass media, because some of those problems are human and are not amenable to technological fixes.” Isn’t critical thinking still the ultimate goal of education?

“The limiting effect of scale on interaction is bad news for people hoping for the dawning of an egalitarian age ushered in by our social tools.” To what extent has Web 2.0 truly flattened the world?

If you'd rather, you can listen to Shirky speak about these challenges in this video:

Blogging Blues

2009-02-26T04:19:00.000-08:00

http://www.flickr.com/photos/freeblogbuttons/2310806501/

To blog or not to blog

Having been “wary” of blogging for a long time, I think I am finally gaining some clarity about the reason for my hesitance—there seems to be no clear purpose for many bloggers. Without teachers and students establishing clarity of purpose, the term blog in the 2.0 world risks becoming synonymous with the traditional “free writing” or “report.” Such writing tasks have long been the bane of students’ and teachers’ lives. Why? Such writings were either regurgitation with no original ideas or streams of consciousness with no organization, original voice, or clarity of thought.

What is a red flag that 21st century “blog” risks replacing the 20th century “report” as an overused, undefined catch all for getting kids to write? As one colleague mentioned recently, when you bring up “blogs” or “blogging”, the kids groan. Much like the traditional “report,” are teachers now over-using this writing vehicle with no clear purpose all in the name of tech integration?

So what exactly is a blog?

In his book, (Corwin Press, 2006), Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful WebTools for Classrooms, Will Richardson offers me some much welcomed clarity:

“If we take a look at the spectrum of different types of Weblog posts, we can start to see where posting ends and blogging as an academic exercise begins:
1. Posting assignments. (Not blogging)
2. Journaling, . . . (Not blogging)
3. Posting links. (Not blogging)
4. Links with descriptive annotation, i.e., “This site is about . . .” (Not really blogging either, but getting close depending on the depth of the description)
5. Links with analysis that gets into the meaning of the content being linked. (A simple form of blogging)
6. Reflective, metacognitive writing on practice without links. (Complex writing, but simple blogging, I think. Commenting would probably fall in here somewhere.)
7. Links with analysis and synthesis that articulate a deeper understanding or relationship to the content being linked and written with potential audience response in mind. (Real blogging)
8. Extended analysis and synthesis over a longer period of time that builds on previous posts, links, and comments. (Complex blogging)"

Richardson then goes on to give concrete ideas to educators of how to scaffold blogging for different ages.

A Call to Educators

Let’s help stem the information overload and help students become effective, motivated thinkers by establishing clarity of purpose if and when blogs are used within an educational setting. Would this not be more likely lead to an authentic, empowering, and collaborative audience for students?

As teachers, let’s follow the pedagogically grounded 2.0 teacher, Clarence Fisher, when he says that blogging in the classroom is to express informed opinions once you’ve built some understanding around a particular topic (paraphrased from a guest presentation to our first course in a certificate of Information Literacy and educational technology course at the International School Bangkok.) I suspect that is why he feels he’s now having more success than his earlier blog forays.

Therefore, could we agree not to assign “blogs” without guidance as to the expectations (i.e. original opinions) and clarity of purpose (i.e. reflect and grow new ideas) so that your students’ blogs don’t simply become a hoop-jumping activity. Can we also agree to assess students on the quality and originality of their thinking rather than the number of blog posts or amount of regurgitation?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/barnett/2836828090/

Project Sketch: Subject Area Resource and Collaborative Space

2009-02-25T16:05:00.000-08:00

Given my position as ES Curriculum Coordinator, I want my project to be something that is useful to myself and the teachers whom I support. Therefore, I propose the following:

What? Subject Area Resource and Collaborative Space
This would include, as a start, the following:
1. PreK-12 Area philosophy, common agreements (temporary fixed position), common assessments
2. PreK-5 curriculum maps per area (for new teachers and for everyone to see the scope and sequence)
3. units of study (collaboratively updated--a click from the curriculum map)
4. collaborative collection of related resources (i.e. video clips of components of the reading workshop)
5. Area for collaborative reflection and discussion

Where? Either an add on to the ISB ES Wiki or Panthernet or BOTH (I'm talking with a number of teachers about which would be the best route to take. It will probably begin one way and then evolve based on use.)

Why? We want a centrally local, web-based resource that gives the "big picture" of each of the subject areas and encourages collaboration, both horizontally and vertically throughout the school

ISTE Standards

Given I work with teachers, the NETS Standards and Performance Indicators would be for Teachers rather than for students. From what I'm thinking, the NETS•T addressed would be:

Model Digital-Age Work and Learning: Teachers exhibit knowledge, skills, and work processes representative of an innovative professional in a global and digital society.
Teachers:
a. demonstrate fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge to new technologies and situations
b. collaborate with peers using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation
d. model and facilitate effective use of current and emerging ditial tools to locate, analyze, evaluate and use information resources to support research and learning

Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership: Teachers continuously improve their professional practice, model lifelong learning, and exhibit leadership in their school and professional community by promoting and demonstrating the effective use of digital tools and resources.
Teachers:
c. evaluate and reflect on current research and professional practice on a regular basis to make effective use of existing and emerging digital tools and resources in support of student learning
d. contribute to the effectiveness, vitality, and self-renewal of the teaching profession and of their school and community

Reflection on Making Learning Whole

2009-02-22T15:52:00.000-08:00

David Perkins

My first introduction to David Perkins came four or five years ago in two very disparate settings. The first was hearing him speak at a Visible Thinking conference at an International School in Amsterdam. Immediately I was amazed at his ability to think deeply and respond in such a clear and concise manner—all spontaneously as he responded to questions. Secondly, I came across his writings on peace education when working on a related curricular project. How couldn’t I become enamored with someone who . . .
• thinks and communicates so concisely and with such clarity,
• is passionate about learning, thinking, and peace in our world, and
• has remained so amazingly humble and human?

Yes, David Perkins is one of my intellectual heroes! So, I was thrilled that a friend recently gave me his latest book, Making Learning Whole: How Seven Principles of Teaching can Transform Education. I’ve just read the first few chapters, but would like to connect his thinking to the challenges educators face in thinking about learners and learning in the 21st century.

Perkins’ “Seven Principles of Learning by Wholes”
1. Play the whole game.
2. Make the game worth playing.
3. Work on the hard parts.
4. Play out of town.
5. Uncover the hidden game.
6. Learn from the team . . . and the other teams.
7. Learn the game of learning.

The Power of a Metaphor

Thinking in metaphors helps us all wrestle with and understand complex concepts. As educators, we realize that learning and facilitating learning is extremely complex, so I appreciate how Perkins used the metaphor of baseball for framing his seven principles. Having only read the first chapter, which is an overview of the seven principles, I am wondering about these principles in the context of students and information literacy (a) and teachers as learners and facilitators of information literacy (b).

1. Play the whole game. (Understand the “big picture” so you know how the smaller parts you’re working on fit—i.e. knowing about a real baseball game)
a. How can we tap into the educational gaming world to access some virtual, authentic “whole games” to which students wouldn’t otherwise have access? b. Do the NETS standards frame the “whole game” of information literacy? How do we build our familiarity of this “whole game”? (i.e. Just because baseball exists, not all people have a clear understanding of that whole game.)

2. Make the game worth playing. (Learners are clear about why and how the learning is meaningful and connected to the real world—i.e. knowing why it might be worthwhile to learn to play baseball)
a. Are we always making it clear why the information literacy game is worth playing to our students? Why do I hear teachers talk about students groaning when they’ve been assigned to “blog”?
b. We’re educators functioning in very different contexts. Have we taken the time to make sure each of us, from our unique perspective, sees the worth of playing the game (i.e. blogging) in this course?

3. Work on the hard parts. (Bring to light misconceptions, biases, and then reflect critically, and strategically target parts for special attention—i.e. batting practice or fielding grounders)
a. Are we helping students’ identify “hard parts”(i.e. critical thinking about resources) of informational literacy or are we simply wowed by these digital natives’ apparent fluency and comfort level? b. Are teachers being supported to become aware of the “hard parts” of information literacy so that they spend time tackling that aspect of integrating technology?

4. Play out of town. (Apply understanding flexibly and wisely in novel and puzzling contexts—i.e. playing on a field where the sun hits you in the eyes and the infield is uneven.)
a. How often are we gauging students’ performances in such varied and novel contexts? b. How might we have more opportunities to hone our information literacy skills and understanding repeatedly and in novel contexts?

5. Uncover the hidden game. (Deep learning involves layers, underlying principles and concepts that need to be addressed—i.e. statistical and strategic aspects of a baseball game)
a. Are we aware enough of the hidden game of the connected 21st century to help our students discover it rather than just be skating on the surface? b. To what extent and in what ways are we uncovering the hidden game of this connected world or of information literacy in this course?

6. Learn from the team . . . and the other teams. (Social constructivism—we learn a great deal from being on a baseball team and from how other teams behave and interact.)
a. To what extent are the digital natives more deeply and intrinsically collective, and socially constructing deep understanding than the non-natives? b. To what extent are we socially constructing our understanding to a deeper level or more effectively than if this were learning in a wholly f2f course?

7. Learn the game of learning. (Being metacognitive so we can become more effective and efficient in the game of learning—i.e. how my learning in baseball can improve my efficiency in learning other games)
a. In what ways are we supporting students’ metacognition about how they’re learning as digital natives so they can more effectively and efficiently learn in non-digital situations? b. As experienced learners, to what extent and in what ways are we applying what we know about how we best learn to our learning in this course?

So far in this great read there is nothing new regarding learning theories, but Perkins has created a metaphorical framework solidly grounded in these theories to address what we so often suffer from in education: elementitis (tackling elements in the absence of a whole) and aboutitis (learning about something rather than learning to do something—i.e. reading about science rather than doing it.) I’m looking forward to digging into each of the seven principles and thinking about them in relation to information literacy.

How do we address truth and bias in the classroom?

2009-02-20T18:17:00.000-08:00

Chris Betcher's Five Lenses for Critically Evaluating Sources

I greatly enjoyed listening to Chris Betcher, an educator from Sydey Australia, when he talked about evaluating sources, as he seems well grounded in learning and the realities of the classroom. I honestly didn’t find his ideas new as we’ve been working with kids on that type of critical literacy for many years. However, I loved a couple of his examples and the video to launch the discussion with kids.

I think we need to continue to work with our students on critically evaluating sources through the five lenses (or factors) that Chris talked about: Authority - Currency - Content/Purpose - Audience - Structure/Workability. However, I believe it is vital that we go further with critical thinking.

Critical Thinking for "The New World of Work

Tony Wagner interviewed many corporate leaders from the high-tech world for his book The Global Achievement Gap. He identifies Critical Thinking and Problem Solving as the first of his seven survival skills for the “New World of Work.” When he interviewed Annmarie Neal, vice president for Talent Management at Cisco Systems—she defined critical thinking as “Taking issues and situations and problems and going to root components; understanding how the problem evolved—looking from a systemic perspective and not accepting things at face value.”

So, let’s try this out on one of the articles we were asked to read “Engage Me or Enrage Me: What Today’s Learner’s Demand" by Marc Prensky. I agree with many of my colleague’s critique of this article regarding the over generalizing and lack of hard data to support his assertions. Right away one can assume his bias given his role as CEO of Games2train.

Let's Try it Out!
Let’s try to apply Ms Neal’s critical thinking to his article. First of all, what is the issue he raises? Engagement as a key component for learning! This has always and will continue to be an issue in learning as most learning theory data supports that engagement is a key factor in constructing depth of understanding. Therefore, as critical thinkers, we would need to look at the root components that have helped or hindered engagement in learning throughout time. Then we could look at where and why there have been successes in increased engagement for learning and how we can adapt those key factors to our current context.

Secondly, rather than accept Mr Prensky’s unsupported claims at face value, we’d have to question him. For example to use the phrase “back then” is simplistic to say the least. When exactly is he referring to? In which context? What about the judgmental statement such as “kids lives were a lot less rich”—according to whom, according to which criteria? Or “Many if not most of them never even knew what real engagement feels like” So, you (and gaming) have the corner on engagement? No one throughout history has experienced passionate engagement? Have you never read about impassioned learning ever taking place before in time, Mr. Prensky? On what evidence are you basing your opinions?

Therefore, I invite all of us (including Mr. Prensky) to dig more deeply into the issue of engagement and its powerful role in learning using our critical thinking skills of analysis (of root components) and questioning (of simplistic and unsupported assertions.)

Connection Lost

2009-02-10T17:40:00.000-08:00

From Spring Globe's photostream (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mieke/1632453542/)

I’m starting to think I’m losing my mind, or perhaps as Nicholas Carr states in “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” I’m simply finding the “deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle.” (More on that later.) The point is, George Siemens “new theory” espoused in “Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age” does NOT make sense to me. First of all, I agree with Martin who read the article and said, “So what? What’s new here?” especially regarding Siemen's list of “some significant trends in learning” on the first page. I would love to question and refute much of the assertions in this article. However, given some research I was just reading on how much time and attention people will actually give to reading blogs or online commentaries, I want to immediately focus my attention on the list he gives entitled “Principles of connectivism” and my related questions:

Learning and knowledge rests in diversity of opinions. What’s new? Wasn’t that how Socrates was trying to continually push his own understanding—through the views and “understanding” of others?

Learning is a process of connecting specialized nodes or information sources. What do you mean by nodes? Can understanding happen if they simply connect sources and not actually “make sense” of these connections?

Learning may reside in non-human appliances. What learning do you value?

Capacity to know more is more critical than what is known. Isn’t it more critical to know which questions to ask and to think about what you do and don’t know than mere capacity? (Suggested reading: The Global Achievement Gap by Tony Wagner)

Nurturing and maintaining connections is needed to facilitate continual learning. How is this different from social constructivism or systems thinking in learning organizations?

Ability to see connections between fields, ideas, and concepts is a core skill. Most definitely! Isn’t this is key component of constructivist theory?

Currency (accurate, up-to-date knowledge) is the intent of all connectivist learning activities. So gaining knowledge (the lowest level of learning) is the main thrust of this theory?

Decision-making is itself a learning process . . . staying open to new learning, adapting thinking. And what is new about this? Hasn't this always been so?

Please accept my apologies if my ignorance or Googlized brain is at fault here. I’m looking for clarity and would love to hear from you all regarding your take on this “new theory” of learning.

Endless Connection (http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnson-in-cyberspace/3045991719/)

What I hope to get out of this course

2009-01-30T20:44:00.001-08:00

I would like to build an understanding of the following:

effective integration of web 2.0 tools with quality pedagogy
authentic purposes for blogging
creating and maintaining a professional learning network
clarity of the learning valued by some of those professing to be leaders in the 2.0 educators' world
examples of increased depth of student understanding due to the network, tools, etc.

Personal Learning Networks--which ones?

2009-01-30T15:47:00.000-08:00

I now know what kids must feel like when they're asked to give their opinion about something they've not experienced. I can talk about the Personal Learning Networks I've experienced throughout my life, which had many different purposes and involved many different cohorts. I'm assuming that this assignment was to reflect on Personal Learning Communities in the 2.0 context, right? If so, then I have no idea as I've not yet experienced it. I have taken several courses online, but I have yet to take one with which I felt I had a virtual learning community. I believe that such PLCs (I purposefully used that acronym which is also used for Professional Learning Communities as in the context of this class, I suspect that will be more in line with my purpose.) In any case, I'm certainly hopeful and excited about the powerful possibilities of PLCs through this connected venue and the blended nature of this course with both face-to-face and virtual gatherings. Nonetheless, I still have innumerable questions. Hopefully, I'll be able to answer those questions through participation and discussion in this course.

In reading Will Richardson's "World Without Walls: Learning Well with Others: How to teach when learning is everywhere" I was pleasantly surprised to read a fairly balanced take on how teaching and learning are being transformed in the digital age. Too often, I find many of the articles in this realm to be a deafening echo chamber (such as Marc Prensky's "Engage Me or Enrage Me", which I hope to blog about very soon.)

I found it extremely refreshing to read Richardson when he wrote, "We must also be adept at negotiating, planning, and nurturing the conversation with others we may know little about -- not to mention maintaining a healthy balance between our face-to-face and virtual lives (another dance for which kids sorely need coaching)." These have always been key skills for peaceful, productive human interaction and ones which some digitial divas have not developed. Also, the call for balance between face-to-face and virtual lives is one we all need to heed, I believe.

Looking forward to learning and growing an opinion about PLCs in the 2.0 context.